Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 12/13/14

Welcome to our daily fantasy basketball column - where we provide the best daily plays on a points per dollar basis.

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Point Guard

C.J. Watson - FD 4100 DK 4200 DFSTR 3000
He's taken over the point guard duties for the Pacers (Donald Sloan just wasn't cutting it) and now that he stands to see 30 minutes a night dribbling the ball up the court for Indy, you need to play him at these prices. This is what we talk about around here. Price and opportunity. It ain't rocket science. And Watson isn't a great (good) point guard. But he can shoot just enough and the rest of the points will round themselves out in the long run of the game.

Mike Conley - FD 6900 DK 7800 DFSTR 6400
So, Conley isn't always the most consistent play on the board, but consistency doesn't mean a heck of a lot when you stumble into match-ups like this. Philly is dead last against opposing PGs again this season, and could certainly pull Memphis out of their normal plodding pace to run up some points. I think Conley is a lock for paying 5x his FanDuel price here, with room for a lot more if the Sixers manage to hang.

Patrick Beverley - FD 5600 DK 5500 DFSTR 5000
It's tough to say for sure what Beverley's opportunity will really be now that he's back from injury, but he's been absolutely crushing it on these prices in his brief stint back. He's crashing the boards, and the injuries to Jones and Howard have him with the ball in his hands on the offensive end a lot more as well. I love Beverley for both safety and upside here.

Kemba Walker - FD 7300 DK 7900 DFSTR 7200
If I'm sizing up a nice cash game play for tonight, I'm staring lovingly into Kemba Walker's eyes. What makes this such a lock? Well, the Hornets are finally playing a team that isn't especially likely to blow them out. And when the Hornets are in the game, Kemba goes out and plays 36-43 minutes a game. That kind of opportunity should build in as much as safety as you can find on a short slate like this.

Shooting Guard

Rodney Stuckey - FD 5400 DK 5000 DFSTR 4900
It was a tough night for Stuckey against Toronto, but it was a tough night for all of the Pacers. I don't know that we can glean a whole heck of a lot from that. Portland has been tough against SGs in their own right this season, but Stuckey's price is still artificially depressed based on the 30 minutes per game and the usage he's seeing in those games. If anything, last night's game was Stuckey's floor - and that's a floor you're willing to accept on prices like these.

James Harden - FD 10500 DK 11000 DFSTR 9400
While the big price tag takes away a lot of any player's safety, Harden is about the safest big money play in the game right now. Like Beverley, his already high usage has skyrocketed with Dwight and Jones missing, and he's been producing on these prices night after night. If you weren't up late, the display he put on in overtime against Sacramento was an absolute joke. He was a one man lay-up line. The Nuggets don't have anyone that can stand in front of him, and while 66 fantasy points isn't likely, a special night certainly is.

Lance Stephenson - FD 6400 DK 6800 DFSTR 5400
Same story with Stephenson as Walker. When the Hornets are in a game, Stephenson gets an absurd amount of minutes. And his "little bit of everything" fantasy contributions mean he isn't as susceptible to slumping as a lot of shooting guards. I'm not sure there's a TON of upside here, but Brooklyn has allowed the 6th most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards this year -s o who knows?

Small Forward

Robert Covington - FD 4100 DK 3600 DFSTR 3000
We pointed to Covington as a sleeper yesterday, and he went out and topped 35 fantasy points. If math isn't your thing, that's more than 8x on his FanDuel price. That makes him an absolute must start that is quite literally match-up proof if he's in the starting lineup. I won't insult you by breaking down the match-up. Just play him.

Trevor Ariza - FD 6100 DK 6600 DFSTR 5700If you're looking for boring and safe, look no further than Trevor Ariza. 40+ minutes and 25+ fantasy points. You can pretty much lock him in. Wilson Chandler's defensive reputation is fine and all, but Denver's up and down style still has the Nugs allowing the 5th most fantasy points to opposing small forwards this season. Ariza should get his looks, and should turn in a cash game worthy performance.

Tobias Harris - FD 7000 DK 6500 DFSTR 7300
Harris paid these prices even on a 4-14 shooting night on Friday, so I don't really know what changes in the second half of the double header tomorrow. The Hawks, as predicted, couldn't contain Harris on the boards, and he got all the looks he could handle. If the standard deviation rolls the other way, Harris could put up a monster.

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Power Forward

Jason Thompson - FD 5400 DK 4600 DFSTR 4400
Man, I'm having a tough time making my power forward recommendations tonight. Our projection system doesn't especially love Thompson, but it can't really account how the Kings have been trusting Thompson recently. And he's been performing. He's really their only rebounder, and they seem to vastly prefer him to Evans. I think the minutes will be there, and the incredible rebounding ability should come through as long as he stays out of foul trouble.

Greg Monroe - FD 6800 DK 7200 DFSTR 6400
Monroe started again on Friday, and as of this writing, was performing pretty well. He put up a phenomenal 22/10 line against the Blazers on Tuesday, and they are actually good against PFs. The Kings have had a hell of a time defending big men with Cousins out, and really don't have anyone to contend with the size of Monroe and Drummond. It stands to reason that Drummond will draw the tougher of the Kings' big men, leaving Monroe to do his thing.

Zach Randolph - FD 7400 DK 7400 DFSTR 8500
Stuff has been weird with Z-bo recently. The minutes aren't always there, but he tends to really soul-crush team without the appropriate big men to counter his below the rim post up game. Philly has allowed the 2nd most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season, so I think something like Randolph's 48 fantasy point performance against the Kings is absolutely in play here.

Center

Kyle O'Quinn - FD 5200 DK 4800 DFSTR 4000
O'Quinn was a recommendation last night, and he went out and up a 14/10 line. If Vucevic is out, O'Quinn looks like the safest thing going. I really love the idea of spending up elsewhere tonight, as a lot of the center options have question marks for me. 30-33 minutes from O'Quinn against the Hawks' 8th ranked center defense this season. Chances are good I'll be running as much O'Quinn as I can handle.

Andre Drummond - FD 7700 DK 8300 DFSTR 7100
Drummond is a man possessed right now. Normal DFSR hoops contributor Doug and I talked on the phone right before lineup locks, and he persuaded me to grab Drummond over Bosh based on Detroit's situation. And frankly, Drummond has "the look" right now. Guys like Drummond are super confidence dependent, and he's one guy I'll actually buy the eye test for. He went out and scored 24 fantasy points in the first quarter. Sacramento's numbers against centers are way worse with Boogie out, and the Kings simply don't have another player that can hope to contain Detroit's big man.

Marc Gasol - FD 8600 DK 8600 DFSTR 7600
Same thing I wrote for Randolph, except x1000 for Z-bo. The Sixers don't have anyone nearly polished enough to deal with Gasol's game. It's actually a fairly terrible night for Centers as well, and on a night with not so many terrific options, you could do a lot worse than securing a decent chunk of salary on Gasol's safety.

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